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Stewart H.

Stewart H.

Joined on 07/09/06

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 10
Most Favorable Review

Good client mode card

ASUS PCE-N13 Wireless Adapter IEEE 802.11b/g/n PCI Express 150/300Mbps Transfer/Receive Rate 64-bit/128-bit WEP, TKIP, and AES WI-Fi alliance WPA, WPA2
ASUS PCE-N13 Wireless Adapter IEEE 802.11b/g/n PCI Express 150/300Mbps Transfer/Receive Rate 64-bit/128-bit WEP, TKIP, and AES WI-Fi alliance WPA, WPA2

Pros: Supports 64-bit operating systems Both regular and low profile brackets included Small

Cons: Included software to configure Software AP does NOT work in Windows 7. I don't know of any Linux drivers that support master mode with this card.

Overall Review: If you want Software AP, you must use Windows XP or Windows Vista. You should really just buy a nice wireless router instead. This card is based on the RT2860 chipset.

Most Critical Review

Bad design

APEX MI Series MI-008 Black Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 250W Power Supply
APEX MI Series MI-008 Black Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 250W Power Supply

Pros: Cheap

Cons: The included power supply just barely clears the CPU fan on a zotac gf6100 motherboard. Even so, the CPU fan and power supply fan blow air in opposing directions, causing heat issues and high noise levels. I had to make some hardcore case mods (involving moving the motherboard tray) in order to solve this problem.

Overall Review: Save yourself the hassle. It's not worth the few dollars you save.

FSP Group FSP300-60GHT 300 W TFX12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
FSP Group FSP300-60GHT 300 W TFX12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Pros: Fits perfectly in a Foxconn RM233 case

Cons: The ATX 24-pin connector is not 20+4pin. The 4 pins do not break off.

I like it

Foxconn RM233+FSP150-50GLT Black / Silver 0.6mm SGCC Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 150W Power Supply
Foxconn RM233+FSP150-50GLT Black / Silver 0.6mm SGCC Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 150W Power Supply

Pros: Two 3.5" hard drive bays Decent airflow

Cons: A little clearance issue with the second (external) 3.5 inch hard drive bay, but I worked around it.

Overall Review: I put in a new 300W power supply. It fits standard TFX12V power supplies without any problems.

Reliable

Crucial RealSSD C300 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1
Crucial RealSSD C300 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1

Pros: Fast and reliable. Came with firmware revision 0006. Still works after going through airport security x-rays several times. Still works after being used for 10+ hours every day for a month in my business laptop (latitude e6510). Still just as fast as new.

Cons: Almost necessary to reduce page file size and disable hibernation in windows 7. However, with 8GB RAM and insanely fast boot times, these "features" of windows 7 become obsolete anyway. Also make sure to adjust power settings to never sleep and never spin down the hard disk.

Overall Review: Partitioned using MBR partition table, two partitions for dual-booting windows 7 (personal) and windows 7 (business). Bought it for $254.99 and totally worth it.

Runs cool

AMD Phenom II X4 910e - Phenom II X4 Deneb Quad-Core 2.6 GHz Socket AM3 65W Desktop Processor - HD910EOCGMBOX
AMD Phenom II X4 910e - Phenom II X4 Deneb Quad-Core 2.6 GHz Socket AM3 65W Desktop Processor - HD910EOCGMBOX

Pros: Fast! Easily runs several virtual machines at once. Runs cool Energy efficient

Cons: Expensive - again, for a good reason The included fan is slightly loud, but bearable.

Overall Review: Make sure you have plenty of RAM if you plan on running many virtual machines. It works without issues in a zotac gf6100 motherboard. Is the lower wattage worth the extra dollars?